In the Beginning...

Although this blog is obviously devoted to exercise, it will surely contain some other health related ideas also.  I feel like I am walking a path to a healthier me and I want to invite you to join me. It only seems appropriate to begin with where my path started... and I don't mean back in highschool when I faithfully ate only fat free food (yes, I stuck to skittles and fat free Entenmann's) or after I had a few kids and I kept a stock of slim fast in the fridge... I mean when I got started on the RIGHT path. I was 30 and overweight. I remember a friend gave me 30 candy bars for my 30th birthday and I stuck them in the freezer. I ate one a day (maybe 2) and with every one I would tell myself I wouldn't eat another one for at least a week. Ha! I finally just thought, "Well, I'll do better when they're all gone." I also had a lot of back pain and sciatic nerve problems.


It was shortly after this time that a friend invited me to an exercise challenge that she was having with a friend. She was moving and she wanted to motivate herself to exercise. The challenge was called "San Diego or Bust." We were supposed to exercise the equivalent miles it would take to get to San Diego and as soon as we all reached the goal we would go. I almost didn't join because I thought I couldn't with all the back pain, but I hated to be left out so I did and I started out slow. A fire was lit in me. Competition was what I needed. I was the only one that finished that challenge or at least the only one that finished entering miles. I started another one after that and then another. Exercise became a habit and then it became something I loved. I have had little back pain since and no sciatic nerve problems. My routine has looked different at different times of my life. I have completed p90x which was awesome but not realistic time-wise for a lot of people (or for me at this point in my life). I joined a group of friends who had formed an early morning boot camp from 5-6 which was absolutely fantastic and something I highly recommend, but again, although I still exercise with friends 2x a week, it not realistic for me right now. My routines are usually 30 minutes on the other days. Everybody's routine is going to look different based on their lives, but everyone can do something!


A year or two after this "San Diego or Bust," I was frustrated because, though I had lost some weight, I was still overweight and I couldn't figure out why when I had such a great exercise routine. This is when I was invited to another health challenge. This one involved 10 goals which included exercise as well as getting enough water, avoiding bad fast food, eating fruits and veggies, avoiding sugar, and other healthy habits. This is when everything fell into place. The light went off. Processed foods really ARE bad for you. Sugar really does make you fat and sick. I started reading books and watching movies about eating right. I've been taking steps ever since. I recently watched a great movie, Hungry For Change, in which was said that you have to move from "I want that, but I can't have that," to "I can have that, but I don't want that." I think that's brilliant and it has helped me give up sugar.... for the most part.

So here I am, still taking steps. Still moving forward. Hopefully someone will find these upcoming posts helpful. :)

-Laura